Media streaming is an increasingly popular way of delivering television, movies and other media content to viewers. Media streams are typically point-to-point transmissions of digitized content that can be sent over the Internet or a similar network, and are often used to facilitate video on demand (VOD), remote storage digital video recorder (RSDVR), placeshifted media viewing and/or any number of other convenient services. Media streaming is often favored over other types of content delivery because of its versatility. Unlike traditional television broadcasts, for example, media streams can often be sent to a wide variety of devices, such as mobile phones, set top boxes and other television receivers, personal computers, tablet computers, video game consoles, and the like. Streaming media often allows media content to be delivered at any time and to any place that network connectivity is available, thereby allowing a high level of flexibility.
Media streaming devices typically provide a user interface in which a list or other graphical ordering of available movies, television shows, and other media content are presented to the user. The user may then browse through this list and select a desired title using a remote control device, a mouse, or any other form of input device. The user might also perform a search based on keyword, media content type, media source, or the like. Unfortunately, in the case of streaming media provided over the Internet or other network, the actual streaming of data might not begin until one or more seconds after the user has made a selection. The user may interpret this delay or “lag” as an undesirable characteristic of the software application and/or media device being used to display the media stream.
It is there is a need for systems, devices, and techniques for improving the responsiveness of user interfaces employed in connection with media streaming devices and the like. These and other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background section.